Channel One
Channel One, formally Virgin 1, was a British television channel. Run by Virgin Media Television, it launched on 1 October 2007, and was closed on 1 February 2011 some months after BSkyB acquired Virgin Media Television. History In , it was announced that the channel had acquired the rights to show reruns of the Star Trek franchise from Star Trek: The Next Generation to Star Trek: Enterprise. http://blog.wotsat.com/page/whatsat?entry=40m_budget_for_virgin_1 http://www.idigitalsales.co.uk/virgin1/ Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had been specifically referred to in pre-launch publicity. was the first Star Trek episode shown, airing on 2 October 2007. http://img59.imageshack.us/my.php?image=virgin1adxh8.jpg On 3 September 2010, Virgin 1 was relaunched as Channel One. On 1 February 2011, at 3am, the channel ceased broadcasting. Deep Space Nine Deep Space Nine was shown from October 2007 through March 2008, when the show stopped airing after season 5. That series was shown daily at 3pm and 8pm, and as of August 2008, Deep Space Nine was aired daily at 2pm. On Monday 26 January 2009, Deep Space Nine broadcast the previously unaired seasons 6 and 7 on the 3pm and 8pm timeslots, replacing Voyager. By the channel's closure, it aired at 4pm, every weekday from the 1st of June starting from season 1. Every Sunday, the week's episodes were rebroadcast. Enterprise The first season of Enterprise was aired Monday nights after Deep Space Nine, through early 2008. It was then repeated from May to August 2008 after The Next Generation, daily at 4pm. The second season aired from summer through autumn 2008 every Monday at 9pm, and season 3 aired every Friday at 9pm, starting 2 January 2009. At the time of its closure, Channel One had been broadcasting the first and second season every weekday at 2pm. The Next Generation As of March 2008, The Next Generation (seasons 1 through 4) aired in Deep Space Nine s previous time slots of 3pm and 8pm. After being replaced by Voyager in August 2008, The Next Generation started its run from season 1 again at weekdays from 4pm, and after airing the season 4 episode , the run then started again. Season 5-7 started on Virgin 1 in April but ended in July after completing season 7. It was replaced by Enterprise. Voyager On 11 August 2008, Voyager began using The Next Generation s (season 1 through season 4) previous timeslots, of 3pm and 8pm. After completing its first run of seasons 1 through season 5 on Virgin 1, Deep Space Nine took over its timeslot on 26 January 2009. The channel had resumed season 6 and 7 at 3pm and 7pm every weekday with the weeks episodes repeated on Saturdays. Voyager was, at the time of the channel's closure, one of its flagship shows, at its timeslot of 7pm. Star Trek Mini Movies On Tuesdays at 9pm Virgin1 ran two-parter episodes from Voyager, The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine together as "Star Trek Mini Movies." While these may appear as one item on an EPG, each part contains credits and a title sequence. Virgin TV On Demand Virgin Media secured the rights to offer Star Trek episodes to UK customers via its video on-demand service. All Star Trek episodes broadcast on Virgin 1 were available for customers to view again on-demand for seven days after broadcast. Subscribers to Virgin Media's more expensive cable packages will reportedly have free any-time access to the entire library of episodes from The Next Generation to Enterprise through the on-demand electronic program guide. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitaltv/a80295/virgin-signs-deal-for-star-trek-on-demand.html Closure After Virgin Media Television was bought out by BSkyB in late 2010, Sky soon announced plans to scrap the channel, along with Bravo. Their official reason was that the channel was too similar to Sky3, and that programs would be brought over from Channel One - though as of Feb. 2011, no such migration has happened. Many people have assumed that, in fact, the channel was closed to draw more people to Sky; specifically their new channel, Sky Atlantic; from Freeview, where this channel was previously broadcast. As planned, the channel closed at 0300 on 1st February, 2011, without so much as a goodbye; and Challenge was launched on Freeview later that morning to replace the stream. External links * Virgin 1 - official website * Category:Broadcasters